1. Field of the Invention
The present invention, called the Synclecron, relates to apparatus, methods, etc. that correlate conventional time as displayed via digital and analog representations with both ebbing & flowing, moving hieroglyphic circles, and also with a rotating “minute-hour” indicator. The circles portray the waxing & waning, daily and nightly nature of the passage of “natural” time of day and “natural” time of night, also called “local solar day” and “local solar night”. The indicator shows the current portion of each successive “natural” hour (one twelfth) of local solar day and local solar night. The Synclecron's hieroglyphs and indicator are displayed via computers and other means of representation. To represent daily local solar day cycles, a waxing and waning solar day circular hieroglyph journeys through a hieroglyphic daytime sky during the day's period of time between time of local sunrise and time of local sunset. Similarly, to represent nightly local solar night cycles, a waxing and waning solar night circular hieroglyph travels through a hieroglyphic night-time sky during that night's period of time between time of local sunset and the next day's time of local sunrise. It is believed this invention can be useful in the fields of chronobiology and chronotherapy.
2. Background Art
Since ancient times, a variety of methods have been used to show the passage of time, from archaic sundials and waterclocks and sand-filled hourglass devices to analog and today's digital watches and clocks. With the exception of sundials, such devices have generally sought to portray time in ways independent of the passage of local solar day and local solar night. Furthermore, sundials are restricted to representing the passage of the sun in the sky during sunny days. Some modern clocks display the passage of day and night via a shadow moving across the entire earth, not from a local perspective. In addition to displaying conventional standard time, the Synclecron invention displays the passage of local solar day and local solar night, and does so independent of weather conditions. And it also does so from the point of view of a given longitude and latitude location on the earth. Based on astronomical calculations, the rates of change of each day's hourly passing of local solar day and each night's hourly passing of local solar night are adjusted according to the times of local sunrise and local sunset for a given latitude and longitude location and that date. In accord with pre-modern traditions around the world, each day consists of twelve “natural” hours and each night consists of twelve “natural” hours. The definition of those “natural” hours being, respectively, one twelfth of the time between that day's time of local sunrise and local sunset, and one twelfth of the time between that night's time of local sunset and the next day's time of local sunrise.